The one and only Chad Kroeger from Nickelback recently joined Loudwire Nights host Toni Gonzalez to talk about the band’s new album Get Rollin’, the trouble Chad got into as a kid, what it felt like playing a concert on 9/11 and more.
Nickelback recently returned with the new song “San Quentin,” which was inspired by Chad meeting the California prison’s warden at Guy Fieri’s birthday party, but Kroeger actually spent some of his own childhood behind bars. Kroeger was sent to juvenile hall for repeatedly breaking into his school to steal money.
“I was always coming up with really dumb ideas of shit we could do to get into trouble,” Kroeger says. “My mom divorced by stepdad in the eighth grade. From that moment on, what type of disciplinary action can my mom take? I was already six feet [tall] in the eighth grade. What’s she gonna do? Hit me with a wooden spoon? But my other friends [would say], ‘If I go and do what you’re suggesting we do and I get caught, my dad will beat my ass.’ Them fearing their fathers was what kept me out of [more] trouble.”
With the 21st anniversary of Nickelback’s breakout album, Silver Side Up, also came the 21st anniversary of Sept. 11, 2001. Nickelback were actually on tour supporting 3 Doors Down that day, and were unceremoniously given the duty to address the crowd as the opening band.
“It was such a weird, eerie feeling, and we had to go up first. I’m the first one to speak into the microphone,” Kroeger recalls. “So I walked up there and I said, ‘Thank you for all coming tonight. I know we’re all feeling a lot right now and we’re all having a hard time processing this, but in one of the darkest moments in American history, please just let us be a form of distraction so you don’t have to think about what’s going on and let’s really just try to enjoy the show.’ And everybody just kind of [exhaled]. But that only goes on for so long. As soon as the show is over, you’ve gotta get back to reality.”
The singer adds, “It wasn’t until halfway through the day when someone goes, ‘Oh shit, our record came out today.’ We completely forgot. We were like, ‘Who cares about our record?’”
Kroeger also named one band he never wants to follow on stage because of how good they are live. “It was us, then Disturbed, then Sevendust,” Kroeger says about an early tour bill Nickelback was on. “After the success of Silver Side Up, there were a few dates where Sevendust opened for us. I don’t care how many records you’ve sold or how many awards you’ve won or what you’ve done around the world… you don’t ever, ever, ever want to go on after Sevendust, because they will kick your ass and wipe you all over that stage. They are a force to be reckoned with and it is goosebump-worthy.”
Check out the full interview with Chad Kroeger below and listen to his full appearance on Loudwire Nights on Sept. 22. Nickelback’s new album Get Rollin’ will become available Nov. 18. To pre-order the record, click here.
Nickelback’s Chad Kroeger – Getting Locked Up as a Kid, Playing on 9/11 + More
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